THE LACE BITE

MURRAY: “Greene is getting better. He’s coming along. It’s just another maintenance look for him, to stay off the ice. He had a little bit of swelling, infection, in his ankle because of `lace bite.’ We’ve had about 10 guys, since the start of training camp, go through the same lace-bite problem. I’ve had it. It is painful. It’s inflammation of the tendon, and once you get it, the only thing you can do is just back off and ice it and take care of it that way, and it will go away. So that’s where Greener is at right now. Parse, I’m not real sure here. It’s another day off the ice. I’m not real sure. I have to get a real medical update on that one, to see where he is and where he has to get to.”

Lace-bite? For those who have never had the pleasure, lace bite is a condition that affects a player’s ankles and/or feet when the skate doesn’t fit the player’s foot (not deep enough, etc.). I know what you’re thinking, how the hell is that possible? Even in the pro ranks, it happens. They make pads and gels (inserts) for it but sometimes feet are goofy shaped and no matter how much you may customize a skate, bake it, etc. you don’t get that perfect fit. That was the short version of the condition. The very short version is that it hurts and it sucks.